RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Public Transport Authority (PTA) announced on Wednesday the signing of the contracts for the largest project to transport passengers by buses between cities in the Kingdom. This will be through a transport network covering more than 200 cities and governorates and serving over six million passengers annually. There will be 76 routes for the intercity services, using a new fleet of environmentally friendly buses equipped with the latest technologies. Minister of Transport and Logistics and Chairman of the Board of Directors of PTA Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser said that this project involves the first foreign investment in the field of intercity transport services, which opens the way for future investments in this sector. He lauded the role of PTA in transforming challenges into successful investment opportunities. It will add SR3.22 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) a year. The minister stressed that the project will further expand the bus transport sector across the Kingdom in addition to serving several other sectors, foremost of which is support for tourism development and traffic. It will also contribute to enhancing economic diversification and further consolidating partnership with the private sector. It is noteworthy that the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services aimed to raise the share of using public transport in the Kingdom from one percent at present to 15 percent by the year 2030. The project will also contribute to translating one of the most important objectives of the strategy in terms of establishing the quality of life in cities, and this is through cutting the percentage of carbon emissions from transport to reach 25 percent in 2030.
